As a teen, Chantelle Hobgood started experiencing numbness and tingling in her lower extremities, which she chalked up to a pinched nerve. When she finally got a diagnosis, she says, “I broke down into tears.”

Mom Lindsey Santiago shares the challenges of parenting when coping with multiple sclerosis. “You take it for granted that you can get up and go, or put your child in a stroller and walk," she says. "That to me is huge.”

Michelle Tolson, a former Rockette and Miss New Hampshire, has made it her mission to talk about MS. “If I can help somebody know and be aware of what MS is, I think I’ve done some good in the world," she says.

After her diagnosis, artist Brooke Pelczynski was "terrified" she wouldn’t be able to hold a brush to paint or draw, but instead learned how to adapt. "I think that has made me a better artist,” she says.

Along with disease-modifying medications that reduce the inflammation and damage caused by MS, lifestyle changes like eating a balanced diet and consistent physical activity, as well as alternative treatments, can help ease symptoms.